The Boy in the Ball

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SEGA's new ad campaign rings of the good old days.

By David Clayman

There is nothing more entertaining than listening to two fan boys defend and tout their system or game of choice. Many gamers have an extreme relationship with their video games, and are poised to insult anyone with contrary tastes. Forget ambivalence, nowadays you are either on the bandwagon or off. But was it always like this? Actually, it used to be worse.

For a period in the early days of gaming, Nintendo was king and it ruled the market wholly and completely. When the SEGA Genesis hit US shelves in 1989 it was bolstered by a line-up of popular SEGA arcade titles and 16 bit technology. The system was able to gain an early fan base, but its biggest challenge was staying competitive against Nintendo's SNES which had the benefit of being released a full two years after the Genesis in 1991.

To keep the Genesis relevant, SEGA launched a full scale advertising campaign that not only touted its line-up, but disparaged its chief competitor. Anyone who remembers the 16 bit wars will likely recall the phrase "Sega does what Nintendon't". These ads coincided with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog, the blockbuster game that gave SEGA a mascot with more cool than Mario. Besides having the blue hipster in its corner what exactly did the Genesis "do" that Nintendo couldn't?

Technically speaking, the only thing that the Genesis had going for it was a faster processor. Without missing a beat SEGA took this slight advantage and coined the term "blast processing". This term was simply an attention grabbing phrase that sought to emphasize the faster game play of games like Sonic the Hedgehog. I remember one such commercial that showed quick cuts of Ecco the Dolphin and Sonic shooting across a stack of television screens juxtaposed with Mario plodding along at a comparatively slow pace. Another ad showed a Nintendo and a Genesis race car facing off on a start line. Of course the Genesis car blazed down the course, while its rival was left sputtering at the line.

The down and dirty advertising tactics continued through the launch of the SEGA Saturn when a television spot depicted a Nintendo 64 being tossed into the air and picked off with a rifle. These ads took the video game war to a new place. It wasn't just about the games, it was about which system was considered cool and SEGA knew how to steer people in its direction.

Another memorable (and very strange) campaign included a sound bite that played after almost every commercial for Genesis and Sega CD games. Known as the "SEGA scream" the company blasted a strained voice quickly shouting "SEGA!" at the end of every ad. The scream epitomized the off-kilter and "in your face" tactics of the company during its heyday.

Unfortunately, the Saturn and the Dreamcast seemed to suffer from an overall lack of exposure and when SEGA left hardware business it seemed that the company's quirky advertising sensibilities were a thing of the past. But now, to promote Super Monkey Ball Deluxe on the Playstation 2 and Xbox, SEGA has launched a new series of ads about a boy named Chad who decides to live in a ball. The first ads in the series can be watched here. They show Chad struggle with everyday activities like playing soccer or brushing his teeth.

Personally, I found the spots to be hilarious and a perfect fit for a game that stars a monkey trapped in ball. Its nice to see that SEGA might have gotten its mojo back in terms of goofy promotions for its equally goofy games. SEGA!